St. John Superintendent Courtney MilletDuring Monday's special meeting, board members declared an emergency at the campus, allowing schools Superintendent Courtney Millet to negotiate a construction contract without further approval from the board. The declaration will shorten the roofing project by 40 days, Millet said.

The board approved the resolution, which was originally presented by Millet at a meeting last week when rain began leaking through a roof at the school. A motion to waive the rules to introduce the roof repair measure failed during the board's regular meeting Thursday.

Millet said officials had to move the school's 130 students to other buildings on campus after rain began seeping through the school's roof.

Phyllis Clark, the school's principal, told board members Monday that a few of the academy's computers, printers and a fax machine were damaged after the rain.

"We had leaks in places we never had before, " Clark said.

The resolution passed 6-to-1, with board members Albert "Ali" Burl III, James "Jimmy Ray" Madere, Matthew Ory and Russell Jack absent. Board member Clarence Triche, who voted against the emergency declaration, said he wanted project managers to get estimates for metal roof.

Project managers said that a metal roof could be more costly and hold up the construction process, which is estimated to take about 60 days.

School officials said the roof repairs will be paid for by the district's $46 million bond issue.

Bob Cooper, a project manager with CSRS, which is managing the bond issue, said the $485,000 project will replace several roofs at the academy's campus, including the roof of a main classroom building, a cafeteria, a gymnasium and a maintenance building. Some of the roofs are 30 to 40 years old and are beyond repair, he said.

"I figure why wait, " said Millet of the roof replacements, adding that she worries every time it rains that water will end up in classrooms. "The money has been set aside for it in the bond. This just makes it go a lot quicker."

Victoria St. Martin can be reached at vstmartin@timespicayune.com or 985.652.0952.